“Any new powers?”
I shrugged.
“Come on.” He dipped his finger in the cup and flicked tea at me. “Who am I going to tell?”
I gathered a bit of strength around the core in my chest, focused it in Streeter’s direction. He was about to dip his fingers again when the cup dumped in his lap. He leaped off the chair brushing icy sweet tea off.
“Did you just do that?” he asked. “Seriously?”
Later, I did it again. Streeter set up targets for me to hit. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but it was Streeter. Who was he going to tell? I ended up eating dinner with them. We didn’t hug on the front porch. We didn’t even shake hands, that wasn’t something we usually did. We just nodded, said goodbye.
“You coming back?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“When?”
I got in the car and rolled the window down. “As soon as I can.”
I wouldn’t leave my best friend behind.
T R A I N I N G
Fishing
There was more Paladin business that night, but I couldn’t concentrate. I’d been thinking about going to the park for weeks. And when the day finally arrived, I couldn’t think of anything else.
The shade beneath the magnolia tree was deep and cool. The koi pond shimmered in the noon sun where dragonflies hovered over the lilies. I picked at the kernels of fish food in my hand, tossed one on the water. The surface swirled yellow, orange and white and the kernel disappeared in the chaos of hungry mouths. I waited until it was calm again and threw another.
Chute was late.
I talked to her on the phone the night before (phones were working, still no nojakks). I’ve got a surprise, I told her. She said just seeing me was enough, she didn’t need a gift. I wanted to jump through the phone when she said that, but held myself in check. We’d meet at the koi pond at noon. So I sat in the muggy shade, tossing fish food with a mess of emotions in my stomach.
A young couple walked around the pond, holding hands. I only needed a few minutes with Chute and I wanted this place to be empty. The trees rustled like a wind funnel dropped out of the sky, debris whipping around the swan sculpture then pelting the couple with leaves. They covered their heads and jogged off.
Freak weather we’re having, wouldn’t you say?
I sensed her before I saw her. Felt her park the car by the road. Sensed her beam with exuberance. Her essence pervaded the entire park; I felt it vibrate in my guts! She was a beacon, a lighthouse of essence that buzzed inside me. I closed my eyes and inhaled.
She appeared at the small bridge, emerging from the path enclosed by trees. She stopped in the sunlight like she stepped onto a stage and looked around. Luminescent and beautiful, her essence tasted sweet. She didn’t see me and I sensed the fall of disappointment. I didn’t want to torture her, but I wanted just to savor the moment.
I tossed a kernel into the pond. She stepped to the water and watched the fish scramble for it. I stepped out of the shade and she saw me there on the other side. Chills danced on my skin.
There wasn’t another moment to waste.
I stepped onto the concrete ledge and into the pond, the water up to my thighs. I splashed through the lilies. The water slowed my steps and the lilies wrapped around my ankles. Chute leaped in from the other side and beside the swan sculpture, wings spread and soaring, we embraced. Her essence permeated my senses, overwhelming me. We squeezed and shook. No separation.
Just wonder.
I could see future moments. In my moment of Realization when all the possible futures were laid out before me, I allowed the path to choose me, allowed life to be present. I didn’t look to see if Chute was in the path. Maybe it was better I didn’t know.
“I had a dream you died,” she said.
“It was just a dream.”
The trees rustled. Leaves fell like a snowstorm.
“Don’t go away like that, Socket Greeny. Never again.” She grabbed my face with both hands. “Can you quit your job?”
“My resignation’s in the mail.”
Another storm of foliage fell.
No words followed. None needed. I had loved Chute all my life. Just like the grimmets, it was an immense power and joy waiting to be released, waiting to be expressed. And there it was in her face. In her smile.
And then we kissed. Long and hard. Our warm bodies pressed together, our hearts exchanging beats, our essence intermingling. Time seemed to stop and I basked in the moment, standing in the muddy water.
Wondrous.
Something squirmed between our bellies like a fish had leaped from the water. Chute jumped back. The squirming thing stopped on my shoulder and blinked its oversized golden eyes.
“I remember you.”
Rudder wiggled with excitement. I held him by the tail and he continued to shake. “He’s a bit excited,” I said.
Chute cupped her hands. Rudder rolled on his back, hands and feet up and tail curled around her wrist. “Aaahhhhh,” she said and stroked his stomach. “He’s so soft and warm.”
She pressed him to her cheek and he purred louder, his tail pushing through her hair. Rudder’s essence was part of me, he kept me alive when Com absorbed me. He kept my heart pumping until I could live on my own and even though I was back, a bit of him was left inside me. Our lives were intertwined, inseparable. We felt the same things, sensed the same things and loved the same things. Chute was now as much a part of his life as mine.
“Is this my surprise?” she asked.
“Part of it.” I looked up into the trees, saw the glittering eyes looking back.
Then nodded.
The trees exploded, leaves and sticks everywhere. The flock of grimmets corkscrewed and circled the pond, whizzing between us and around us, diving in the water and skimming the surface with dragonflies between their lips. The fallen leaves whisked off the ground.
Chute threw her head back, smiling and laughing, her voice lost in the exuberant chatter. They brushed against her and tussled her hair. One of them hit her square on the face with a fat kiss, pinching her cheeks until I snatched him off. She spun around and around, letting them, one after another, drop into her outstretched hands. They divebombed and circled her, coming together for a group hug.
I could’ve stood there for eternity listening to her laugh.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to be in the pond!” The park superintendent stomped onto the path. He was set to snatch us up by our earlobes. That is, until he saw something he’d never seen before. Still pointing, he was mesmerized by the impossible creatures fluttering overhead. Making him forget what he came to do. Making him forget what he was seeing. He dropped his hand, mouth open.
Chute and I didn’t wait for him to leave; we chugged out of the pond, lifting our legs high. The grimmets disappeared into the trees, scratching along the branches and staying out of sight. Rudder curled up into the palm of my hand, twining his tail between my fingers. We stopped on the second bridge and caught our breath. I hooked my finger with her’s and Rudder wrapped his tail around our hands.
She watched the water run beneath the bridge. “Are you going to leave me, again?”
I didn’t want to know the details of our future. It just seemed like a bad idea because if she wasn’t there, could I live with that? But when a future glimpse presented itself, I couldn’t resist. I saw the future of our path and knew that Chute would be with me the rest of my life. I saw us together. We were old. I saw us walking with wrinkled fingers hooked together.
No, I will never leave you.
T R A I N I N G
Comet
It was months before the world got their nojakks back. Virtualmode’s return, however, had yet to be determined. A Paladin spokesperson made an announcement to boos, but public officials didn’t condemn them. They didn’t say anything. The Paladins were pretty convincing, it appeared, to make them see it that way. I doubted they told them what really happened, but who knows, maybe they were chan
ging public relations policy.
The Garrison had limited functionality. The training rooms were just white rooms and servys didn’t greet us in the parking garage. We carried our own bags, served ourselves lunch and sat on plain chairs, just like everyone else.
We lost over half the Paladin Nation in the battle and most of the commanding tier. The void of leadership was filled with inexperience and decisions were slow and heavily-debated. Mother was needed more than ever. She spent her time travelling around the world and I spoke to her through projection more often than in the skin, but I could feel her no matter how far away she was. I could feel her pulse inside me like an organic lifeline, and knew when she was well and when she was stressed.
I spent most of my time in the Preserve. Before, when I was just a cadet, no one paid much attention to me. I was a promising cadet, but I was still a cadet. In the eyes of accomplished Paladins, I was a kid. Nothing more. I still had to prove something.
But that was then.
I changed the world; maybe even saved the human race. So now Paladins looked at me with reverence. Sometimes, fear. I stayed hidden, most of the time. I didn’t want to cause fear; I wanted them to adjust to the new era. One day, when I was dead, the stories would make me larger than life. But I was still alive, there was nothing to fear.
I would not become another Pivot, segregated from society in my own jungle, reverting to a modern day Tarzan. I would embrace the Paladin Nation, and, if possible, guide it. For the path called me to lead, and that would require knowing those around me. But until things settled, it was just me and the grimmets.
“All cadets are recognized for their Realizations.” The Commander had come out to the grimmet tree alone. “More than ever, we need to recognize this one.”
We need you, Socket Greeny.
When the day came, I reported. It wasn’t so much for recognition or fame or to prove all those doubters wrong. The Paladin Nation needed to believe in something. Even though these were highly evolved humans, the degree of betrayal had destroyed their trust. Existing without hope was difficult. They needed something to rally around. Even though I understood there was nothing to hope for, that the present moment was perfect, the Paladin Nation needed something to believe until they could see that for themselves.
I went to the Preserve deck where I had first met Com. If I knew what he was then, could all that death have been avoided? I still had a lot to learn about seeing the future and what I could do about it.
I stood at the edge, watching dusk settle over the Preserve. The jungle inhabitants greeted the rising moon. Far away, I saw the barren branches of the grimmet tree. Colors swirled around it as the grimmets chased insects.
If only Pon could be here. I didn’t want him at the ceremony, although his expression would be entertaining. No need for frivolity! No, I just wanted him to see the fruits of his labor. There were so many that paved the path on which I stood, I could only hope that on some other plane of existence, they could see where it led, that their efforts had not been wasted. That I was grateful to have walked with them.
Spindle stepped next to me. He was the only mech to be activated, my special request. His data was backed up and uploaded to another bodyshell.
“How many times are you going to save my life?” I asked.
“As long as it is required.”
We paused a bit longer and listened to the jungle
“It is time,” he said. “The ceremony has begun.”
“Has Mother made arrangements?”
“All those you requested are in attendance, awaiting your arrival.”
Yes, Pon would frown on such frivolity, but I would not waste his efforts. Let’s celebrate the moment. Nothing frivolous about that. I looked across the Preserve, to the grimmet tree.
[Come,] I thought.
The colorful mass spiraled towards us. Spindle and I went to the door and, before it opened, Rudder smacked into my palm. Hundreds of wings batted the wind behind us. We walked down a long corridor, side by side, and entered the only functional moldable room in the Garrison.
It was a floor and nothing else, like it was floating in silent space with the stars and planets above and below. A half circle of Paladin leaders stood in the middle. In front of them were the people that mattered most. My mother was there. And, upon my request, Chute and Streeter. The three of them stood at attention.
It was good to see Streeter distracted by the technological wonder. I could see his mind already spinning with all the things he could do with technology like this. Chute, though, she was smiling. Her hair was down around her face and her energy was brighter than all those in attendance, pulling me toward the center.
The grimmets erupted from the tunnel and, for a moment, buried us in the furious patter of leathery wings. They circled the platform several times until they were all present, then filled the empty space on the floor, leaving a path for us to follow. Spindle took a step back and a spot glowed in the center. Rudder swung from my fingers as I made the walk.
There was no echo of my footsteps, not even the rustle of wings. All was silent. The Commander acknowledged my presence with a slight nod, and then looked skyward. While only a few Paladins were in actual attendance, the rest were surely watching the event from around the world.
“It is with great pleasure,” he said, his voice booming, “to recognize the accomplishment of Socket Pablo Greeny. The one who sees clearly is truly a gem beyond value, for he is one that lays the path for us to follow.”
He made eye contact with everyone on the platform before continuing.
“If there are any in attendance that wish to speak against the induction and Realization of Socket Pablo Greeny, this is your moment.” After a long, silent pause, he bowed his head. “It is an honor, Paladin.”
A raucous shuffle resounded as the grimmets bowed in unison, all well-behaved. Their eyes were to the ground, tails curled around their bodies. Mother stepped forward and put both hands on my shoulders. She gently turned me around so that my back was to the congregation. Chute and Streeter stepped to each side.
“There is nothing we can give you to equal what you have given us,” the Commander said. “For the understanding you embody is priceless. But, sadly, it does not come without a cost.”
Mother’s hands tightened.
“In honor of all those that lost their lives,” he said, “a memorial is launched.” A bright light emerged from below the lip of the platform and seemed to be far out in space, a long tail trailing behind it. “May its glory blaze throughout the universe until the end of time, so that they may never be forgotten.”
The comet slowly streaked away and we watched it shrink into the distance. Nothing was said. Nothing stirred. The ceremony was for all of us. For the world. For all existence. And then I realized where home was. It wasn’t in the Preserve or a house in South Carolina. It was here, in existence. It was right this moment.
I put my arms around Chute and Streeter. Chute laid her head on my shoulder and we watched the comet until it was a tiny point of light glittering through the constellation of the Big Dipper. We watched it with wonder.
We watched it right here and now.
VII
Life won’t take you where you want to be;
It will take you where you’re needed.
Like it or not.
Pike
To love deeply is to risk grandly.
One cannot be without the other.
Chute
Those who know, don’t tell.
And those who tell, don’t know.
Buddhist proverb
L E G E N D
Child’s Play
Dreams rarely came to me when I slept. Visions were a different story. I could see them and feel them. Smell them. They were a glimpse of things to come.
This night while I slept, I saw a man walking down a crowded sidewalk, a man that hadn’t seen daylight in years. A man destined to never see it again. But in the vision he was there, walk
ing among people with the sun on his face. I wouldn’t believe such a story anymore than Jack climbing a beanstalk. But this was a vision.
My visions were rarely wrong.
I sat up in a massive chair, my forehead numb from the desk, but it was nothing compared to the cold tingling sensation in my neck, a side-effect of visions, a dense uncomfortable numbness that took hours to fade. I rubbed my neck.
I rarely made it to bed. My desk served as a poor substitute. My office was oversized, to say the least. A hundred feet long, maybe fifty wide. The walls, floor and ceiling were made from microscopic nanomechs the size of skin cells and equipped to mold any object, create any environment or situation. It was also buried under a billion tons of granite beneath Garrison Mountain, home of the Paladin Nation.
Currently, the room was glowing blue from the intricate web of lines that represented naturally-occurring wormholes throughout the universe. It was the soft glow and pulsating stars that made me drowsy, but now I was awake with the image of a free man branded on my brain. A man that, given me the choice, would no longer be breathing. No going back to sleep now.
[Off,] I thought to the room.
The blue threads and twinkling stars disappeared, leaving me alone in the darkness. I called for the room to connect me with the man in my vision.
The walls bled brown from beneath the surface. I walked around the desk. The ceiling turned a deep shade of violet and a chair grew from a blackened floor. It was solid with stout armrests, immovable and empty. I paced to the end of the room with my hands locked behind my back and stared at the blank wall. The vision remained sharp and detailed, like a lighthouse illuminating deadly shores. And the dull sensation hung over my neck like a blanket of chains.
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